Innovation City’s Startup of The Year Competition
Since its launch in 2022, Innovation City’s Startup of the Year competition has become more than just a title. It’s a platform for breakout companies to move from hidden gem to household name. Each year, ten high-growth startups are selected from across South Africa and invited to compete in front of a panel of investors, industry leaders, and ecosystem enablers.
This is What Winning Innovation City Startup of the Year 2025 Looks Like
The Startup of the Year 2025 winner will receive a game-changing prize package valued at over R370,000, designed to fast-track growth, sharpen strategy, and elevate product excellence:
✔️ A one-year Innovation City membership, valued at R200,000
– full access to Cape Town’s premier tech ecosystem, curated events, investor connections, and tailored scale-up support.
✔️ A UX & UI Design Sprint with Now Boarding Digital, worth R140,000
– transforming your product experience with sleek interfaces and seamless user journeys.
✔️ 6x founder coaching sessions with PG Tops
– including a customised *accountability framework powered by EOS methodology + Monday.com implementation and a 1-year subscription, valued at R30,000, to help you lead and scale with clarity.
✔️ Exclusive benchmark data and publicity from The Open Letter
– providing key insights into how your startup compares against industry peers.
Big prizes. Bigger platform. Even bigger impact
Startup of the Year 2025
Botlhale AI for their pioneering work in African language technologies. Their real-time transcription and multilingual speech tools are breaking down language barriers across digital platforms, making AI more accessible and inclusive for millions of users on the continent.
Top 10 2025
Entry Criteria
The startup must be a maximum of 5 years in age – calculated from the establishment date until public nominations open
The startup must have a team of two or more people.
The startup must have a minimum viable product (MVP) and/or service in the market.
The startup must be generating monthly recurring revenue.
The startup must have an office located in South Africa.
Judges
Prizes by
Past Winners
Startup of The Year 2024
AI Diagnostics for their groundbreaking TB screening tool. The innovative solution, leveraging AI-enabled digital stethoscopes, enables early and cost-effective detection of Tuberculosis, showcasing the transformative potential of technology in healthcare.
Startup of The Year 2023
Wamly, South Africa’s largest one-way video interview platform, was named Tech Startup of the Year. The company, founded by industrial psychologist and talent expert Francois de Wet, provides innovative solutions for high-profile corporates and CEOs in the recruitment process. The company’s success during the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the importance of its one-way video interview platform, which helps save time and create efficiency in the hiring process.
Startup of The Year 2022
Kena’s team have managed to build and launch their health care app business in a highly regulated and very sophisticated $37 billion industry. While the Telehealth care industry in South Africa is still in its infancy, the jury scored Kena highly on its ability to maneuver a business in a difficult landscape wracked with regulations. Kena has a chance to change the landscape of affordable health care through technology, for tens of millions of people.